The Crimson Tide Pool of Death

By Papa

Carson's been kidnapped and it's up to Lyse, Bell and Ben to get him back. To do that they will have to battle pirates, both good and bad, robots both annoying and nice, Native Americans, both angry and angrier, and one cheeky oven. That is if they don't destroy Galveston bay and change the world forever. Come along on the next exciting adventure of the Wildermuss clan, where danger is their normal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papa
• Release date: Aug 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370442454

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Pirate of the Gulf

Boy, that boy is cute, Lyse thought as she lounged on the beach watching what waves there were roll in from the gulf. In a white, frilly shirt and khaki shorts, her long blond hair flowing freely, she stretched, hoping to catch his eye. But he was busy trying to scoot across the waves on a boogie board.

She couldn't go down there; her mother had mandated that she watch her two brothers, although the only thing on her mind right now was … well, the boogie board boy.

When he fell, Lyse ducked her head and grinned. The boy looked in her direction and grinned back. At least he was aware of her; he'd talked to her earlier, but only for a moment, telling her his name was Jack.

Frowning, she turned and watched Carson pull up his black shorts for the fiftieth time. He had accessorized these with a pair of sky-blue water wings on his arms. In contrast to him, Ben had worn white shorts. She watched both boys--and both in need of a tan, Lyse noted--for all of thirty seconds, before she went back to watching the only boy she wanted to watch.

She hated being stuck out here on the beach with them. (The boy looked like more fun.) But her Mom and Dad were back at the condo getting some rest, having driven all night to get here in time for her Dad's interview tomorrow.

Lyse frowned again. This was a depressing Christmas vacation.

The news their parents had given them yesterday had saw to that.

I know this is a terrible decision, their mother had told them, right before they packed for Galveston. But as of right now, none of you are going to college because we're in saving mode. Last week, your Daddy lost his job at CRS--due to the economy, they said. They're moving all of their operations back to Germany, and well, your Daddy is not going with them. It has left us in financial limbo.

Immediately, every one of her kids started protesting, until their mother had held up her hands for silence. As of right now, we can't afford to spend any money on your college funds. Lyse has a chance for a scholarship with her fast pitch softball but if she doesn't get her grades up, even that might not happen. That's why we're going to Texas. Your Dad is interviewing for a job down there. But I want you kids to understand that we're trying, it's just that-- And here her mother's voice choked. We're trying is all. She wanted all of her kids to go to college and it broke her heart that all of them now might not.

Her mother was a teacher and they wouldn't starve with her pay but in today's world, most people needed two incomes to get ahead. Lyse knew that--Bell did too. Ben and Carson were beginning to realize that. But still, stuck here alone on the beach, Lyse could see all the possible pathways to her future fading before her eyes and that depressed her, cause with her grades, only a Christmas miracle would get her into college as things stood right now.

Shark! Ben yelled, struggling to drag his stocky body, and Carson, out of the water. He was pointing. Look!

Alarmed, Lyse jumped up, craning her neck to study the thing Ben was pointing at. He'd better not be crying wolf, she thought--she would feed him to that shark if he did. She looked for Bell and found her, her loose white shirt flapping in the sea breeze as she ran towards them from the boy's direction. And her too if she was flirting with Jack.

Lyse kicked over the lounge chair as she marched to the edge of the water, where Bell, Ben and Carson now stood, staring intently towards a dark mass underneath the azure water.

The sun was setting over their shoulders and farther out, where the thing was running back and forth, the water was beginning to turn a deeper blue, almost purple. Lyse couldn't tell what it was, and for a moment, she doubted the effectiveness of the Lasik eye surgery she'd had last month.

I don't think that's a shark, Lyse said.

I don't see a fin, Bell added. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to get a better look at the fish, or whatever.

The animal came unhurriedly in their direction and all of the children but Carson stepped back from the lapping waves. Lyse pulled Carson back out of fear.

About fifty feet away, it committed a sharp right turn, perhaps sensing them and then rolled onto its belly in the water, emitting a shrill, warbling, Eehk, eehk, eehk, eehk,eehk,eehk. Almost laughing at them, it seemed.

For some reason, the dolphin's screech caused Ben to see a flat rock skipping across water.

A dolphin! Bell cried. She jumped up and down in excitement. She had wanted to see something over this vacation and a dolphin was perfect.

Carson said, She said hello. Something 's wrong with her…. He waggled his right arm.

Bell smiled, That's cute Carson, like you know.

He looked at her seriously, Walter taught me.

Ben looked worried for a moment. Carson you're spending too much time at Doctor Proctor's house. Walter has you believing you can talk to animals. Walter never worried Ben, but he did give him the creeps sometimes. All that hair made the doctor's adopted Neanderthal brother look like a Bigfoot, only a three-foot tall Bigfoot, and Walter knew things that most humans didn't. Yeah, creepy.

Not talking, Carson said. I just can understand them.

A confused look crossed Ben's wide face but then he shook his head. No way.

She's hurt but she's more exhausted. She can't swim that well Carson added.

The dolphin slowly pirouetted in the water. It warbled again. They could plainly see the wire wrapped around its body and one fin, which had pulled it down close to its body.

Lyse put her hand over Carson's mouth. If he said anything about the fish talking, she would run off in a screaming fit. Not that Lyse hadn't seen a talking animal before; she just still wasn't used to them. Even their pet, Spanky, the Platypus unnerved her still.

Carson shook his head free and dashed out into the waves.

Carson! Lyse and Bell yelled. Bell waded into the water after him but stopped; he had a head start and she was wary of the dolphin. It might be porpoise, she thought.

In seconds, Carson was in over his head, floating with the water wings, and within ten feet of the dolphin as it swam in lazy eights around him. Carson put out his hand and the dolphin swam under it, its fin brushing his fingertips. Carson whooped in delight.

He turned and looked at them, waiving them to him. Salorna's friendly! he yelled.

Ben whooped--he needed no more encouragement--and took off running towards his brother.

The dolphin swam around the two boys for maybe fifteen minutes, swooping in and out again, running closer to them each time, before it finally stopped. It regarded them out of big, dark eyes. Still floating, Carson eased up to the dolphin, and with Ben's help--Bell was still a little afraid of it and Lyse had never left the beach--they gently removed the single strand of wire from around its body and left fin. It had already cut into the dolphin's skin.

Somebody's trash, Bell thought with disgust. When are people gonna learn that we share this planet.

Free, the dolphin darted away, searching back and forth in the water, hunting. It caught two or three fish and returned to the boys. Once, it even jumped over them in the chest-high water. Then, as quick as it appeared, it flashed off into the depths of the ocean.

Back on the beach, they were excitedly jabbering about the dolphin, when Ben said, Hey! Is that Johnny Depp?

The strangely dressed man swaggered in their direction.

He sure did walk like Johnny Depp, Lyse thought, touching her hair.

The man wore a pair of dark-blue pants; a red silk kerchief around his neck, a red silk shirt under a blue overcoat with the collar turned up and white ruffled cuffs. As he strolled towards them, his curled-top boots kicked up sand. From his hip, a sword dangled.

Either someone going to a costume party or that man is a hipster, Lyse thought.

As he drew closer, they could see that he was a tad on the rugged side. In this case, rugged meaning dirty. His cowboy hat had a stylish flair on the right side with something glinting at its center. Beneath the man's thin, black moustache, lurked a slight smirk and his long dark hair almost hid the cruel look he gave them out of hazel eyes.

Come on kids, Lyse said, herding the two smaller boys in front of her. Mama would kill her if she lost them. She left everything on the beach in her haste.

Bell gave the man, who was now about fifty feet from them, his eyes locked on them, one last look and then with a flip of her long, dark hair, hustled after Lyse and the boys.

They hurried up the beach, giving nervous glances to the man